Around the Nets: Draft Bullets

Chad Ford gives the Brooklyn Nets draft evening a D+ (Insider): “The Nets traded what became the No. 6 pick to the Blazers for the right to overpay Gerald Wallace to the tune of around $40 million in July. Considering who was on the board, I’d rather have had Harrison Barnes at a fraction of the cost. I know the Nets are taking a win-now approach, but if they don’t land Dwight Howard, Wallace is a liability.” Ford later goes on to praise Taylor, who he had 30th on his draft board.

CBS Sports gives the “New Jersey Nets” a B+, saying that Tyshawn Taylor can compete immediately for minutes with Jordan Farmar. A “close associate” reports to Howard Beck that Farmar will opt out, but the point is made.

Some excellent reading on Tyshawn Taylor and his tenacious D: “Not only are there all kinds of plays when Taylor contains skilled offensive players, but there are also any number of blocks, strips and hands poked into passing lanes. He makes some plays at the rim, and some others well above. There are also plays in which Taylor (whose time at St. Anthony’s became part of a documentary) matches opponents step for step on the run, and then turns on the jets and dusts everybody. The speed is almost frightening. Statistics show it was almost impossible for opponents to succeed running isolation plays against Taylor — they scored barely more than 20 percent of the time.”

From Tyshawn Taylor himself: “I have to be more of a student of the game in regards to my turnovers and where I get myself in trouble. I feel I can bring toughness, and I’ve shown I can score a little. … Coach Self said Deron was the best guard he ever coached. He always told us stories of him. I love watching Deron. He’s a complete guard.”

Billy King says that the *ahem* “unrest” at the point guard position didn’t factor into his decision to take Taylor: “We would look at a veteran to replace those guys [Williams and Farmar] if they leave.”

The Brooklyn Nets bought the 54th pick outright from the Philadelphia 76ers and drafted Tornike Shengalia. Shengalia has a buyout from Charleroi worth $300,000, a figure the Nets can pay outright if they want him in Brooklyn immediately. I’d expect them to stash him for at least a year.

Jonathon Givony on the Nets‘ final pick, Turkish center Ilkan Karaman: “Ilkan Karaman should be a bouncer at a nightclub in Istanbul. 6-9. Chiseled. Great athlete. Can make an occasional 3. Solid pick for Nets.”